MSA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION–CHALLENGES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Training students and teachers in the Earth Sciences has gained some well-deserved urgency in recent years, but challenges remain considering the changing priorities in the states and communities and their attempts to meet the goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The first challenge is the status of Earth Sciences in the curricula. Few states require a year-long Earth Science course for high school graduation, whereas most states require a course in a Life Science and/or a Physical Science. There is no Advanced Placement examination in the Earth and Space Sciences, which detracts from providing strong Earth Science education. On the other hand, colleges and universities generally accept Earth Science courses for admission credit, the challenge being that they are not universally considered as laboratory courses (and may not be). So, there is a mismatch in the perception of the value of Earth Sciences between secondary and higher education. Another challenge is the NGSS focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), which raises biology, chemistry, and physics without commensurately including the Earth Sciences. The trend is to deemphasize Earth Science courses in secondary education.

Is this situation important for the future of professional and academic Earth Science? Earth Science education generally gets its biggest boost via exciting introductory undergraduate courses that convince students to alter their trajectory through college. Nonetheless, that Earth Science course in middle or high school may have had a significant impact on students majoring in Earth Science in college. Moreover, knowledge about Earth resources, Nature’s risks, deep time, and the Earth system are necessary to an informed citizenry as well as to societal support of the science and its practitioners.

The challenge to enhance Earth Science education requires academics in higher education to endorse careers for their students in teaching at all levels and for us to mandate inclusion of Earth Science concepts into chemistry, physics, and biology courses in secondary schools. Teachers who know and love the Earth Sciences can only improve secondary education with their enthusiasm and provide for the future of the science and its place in society.